The North American Aerospace Defense Command will once again be tracking Santa Claus as he circles the globe on Christmas Eve, offering up-to-the moment online updates on St. Nick's progress in a number of languages and using Google Earth and Google Maps to display his flight path.

While the actual "tracking" starts at 3 p.m. on December 24 (GMT +8), visitors to the NORAD Santa Web site can view last year's flight path while waiting.

If you're out and about on Christmas Eve, you can also use iOS and Android apps to view Santa's progress. Santa watchers can track his updated progress on Facebook, Google+, YouTube, and Twitter.

Now, let's just hope a few people at NORAD won't be enjoying a Christmas break. After all, it would be a shame if a mythical missile accidentally blows Santa's sled out of the sky while en route.

For more on NORAD's decades-long effort to provide children a live view of Santa's progress as he and his reindeer deliver Christmas presents, read this behind-the-scenes story by CNET's Daniel Terdiman.